LAS VEGAS – Jermall Charlo held up his end of the bargain.
The former two-division titlist floored Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna three times en route to a sixth-round stoppage in their super middleweight contest. Referee Mark Nelson stopped the fight on the advice of the ringside doctor 1 second into the sixth round of their PBC on Prime co-feature Saturday evening from Michelob ULTRA Arena.
Charlo’s previous fight came in this very arena, though 19 months ago. The fight was also his first back with Hylon Williams Sr.
“It feels good to be back,” said Charlo. “I'm thankful to everyone who stood by me. I love y'all. It goes on, man. I’m back. You know you gotta go through things to get better. I felt good. I got to work and I knew my timing was there. Shout out to my trainer Hylon Williams Snr.”
Charlo spent the first couple of rounds behind his jab as action was slow out the gate. LaManna did his best to seize those moments – his best chance at victory in a fight in which he was a massive underdog – but could manage only an occasional right hand.
The tempo of the fight changed for good in the third. Charlo scored the first of three knockdowns on the night, though LaManna refused to roll over. He continued to play to the crowd, though he lacked the equalizer to ever threaten to turn the tide.
LaManna – a 34-year-old former title challenger from Millville, New Jersey – was dropped again late in Round 4. A right hand caused his legs to buckle, but Nelson ruled that he avoided the canvas.
Replay review – which is used in between rounds upon demand in Nevada – confirmed that LaManna’s knee touched down to overrule the in-ring call.
Charlo sent LaManna to the deck for the third and final time. The battered face of LaManna – a cut and bruise under his right eye, swelling around his left – told the tale. He still managed one final right hand inside the final 10 seconds, which seemed to irritate Charlo more than anything else.
Time was called at the start of the sixth round as LaManna was paid a visit by the ringside physician. It led to a brief conference with the referee, who was instructed to wave off the contest.
LaManna, 39-6-1 (18 KOs), ended a nine-fight win streak versus modest opposition. The run included a stay-busy fight earlier this year, a necessity since this matchup was due to take place last December before the entire show was cancelled.
Charlo, 34-0 (23 KOs), led 60-52 on all three scorecards at the time of the stoppage. He was credited with landing 67 of 210 total punches, compared to just 19 of 150 for LaManna.
Saturday’s feat was just the second win in four years for Charlo, as well as his first stoppage since December 2019, when he halted Dennis Hogan inside of seven rounds.
Injuries, personal issues and mental health concerns slowed Charlo’s career to a crawl over the past four years and also resulted in the end of his WBC middleweight title reign.
Saturday’s victory was right on time, however.
The fight was packaged with a Caleb Plant-Armando Resendiz interim WBA super middleweight title fight. Wins by Charlo and Plant are expected to set up a grudge match later this fall.
“I was so focused on this fight and getting this fight out the way,” noted Charlo. “They know what it is, they know where I’m at. I want my lick back. They know what's going down.
“I'm just looking to stay well-known and relevant. No more dark places, and keep my head straight. I just want to encourage everyone in the world, keep God first, keep God first.”
Previously, a second-round knockdown by Cuba’s unbeaten Yoenli Hernandez paved the way for a 10-round unanimous decision win over Kyrone Davis. Scores were 100-89 on all three cards for Hernandez in their 10-round contest.
The knockout streak ended for Hernandez, 8-0 (7 KOs), but he very much remains a middleweight to watch. A Cuban export based in Providence, Rhode Island, Hernandez had never gone past the eighth round and came out determined to continue that stretch. Delaware’s Davis – trained by Stephen “Breadman” Edwards – was sent to the canvas in the opening round, though the sequence was ruled a slip.
The veteran contender’s luck changed for the worse in the second. Hernandez connected with a left hook to floor Davis for the bout’s only knockdown. Davis beat the count, but his body language throughout the second and third raised cause for concern.
Action slowed and ultimately leveled off altogether in a slow-moving second half of the fight. Davis enjoyed his best round of the fight in the seventh, one that Hernandez all but took off.
Hernandez used more lateral movement in the closing round, while Davis fought behind a high guard as he attempted to work his way inside.
The crowd tried to will a knockout finish out of Hernandez, who loaded up with overhand rights in the 10th and final round.
Davis slipped and blocked most of the punches during one exchange, but he found himself pinned on the ropes with less than a minute to go. Hernandez dared Davis to come forward, then connected with uppercuts and an assortment of power shots that drew a rise out of the fans just before the bell.
A three-fight win streak ended for Davis, who fell to 19-4-1 (6 KOs). Among that run was an upset split decision victory over then-unbeaten Elijah Garcia last June 15 at MGM Grand Garden Arena, his last fight prior to Saturday.
Hernandez picked up his second win of the year, both in Vegas. He tore through Mexico’s Angel Ruiz in a fifth-round knockout on the David Benavidez-David Morrell Jnr undercard at nearby T-Mobile Arena.
Opening the livestreamed portion of the card, Isaac Lucero enjoyed a breakout performance at the expense of his countryman.
A battle of unbeaten Mexican junior welterweights saw Lucero – a La Paz native based in Las Vegas – overwhelm Tijuana’s Omar Valenzuela, 23-1 (20 KOs), en route to a second-round knockout in his US debut.
The bout saw both fighters go to work early. It didn’t take long for the Sampson Lewkowicz-promoted Lucero to establish his dominance, as he was quicker to the draw during every exchange. Valenzuela avoided an opening-round knockdown when referee Michael Ortega ruled that he was floored by a rabbit punch.
That luck didn’t extend too far into the second.
A left hook by Lucero, 17-0 (13 KOs), floored Valenzuela for the fight’s lone knockdown. Valenzuela beat the count but was unable to avoid the inevitable. Lucero unloaded with a volley of punches which left Valenzuela defenseless to force the stoppage at 2 minutes, 57 seconds of Round 2.
“I’m very grateful for the opportunity and I'm thankful to everyone watching,” said Lucero, who has stopped his past six opponents. “This is something I’ve been dreaming of and it feels amazing. Once I started landing, I thought he was feeling my big shots, and I knew it was a matter of time.”
Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as a senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home. Follow Jake on and .